In a software development setting, a Total Quality Management (TQM) department is a dedicated team or function responsible for establishing, promoting, and overseeing the implementation of TQM principles and practices throughout the software development lifecycle. The primary goal of this department is to ensure that the software products and the processes used to develop them meet the highest possible standards of quality, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction.

In software development, quality management encompasses everything from Quality Assurance (QA) to Quality Control (QC) and, ultimately, Quality Engineering (QE). All of these areas play a role in application security and compliance. Quality is often perceived as a cost for organizations, so when budgets are cut, these areas usually bear the brunt. This is a slippery slope for a company, especially if it is trying to meet specific standards required for various security compliance regulations. Reducing quality from the budget will have far-reaching consequences over time.

Total quality management (TQM) is a top-down organization concept that dedicates quality to every function of an organization. It was developed in the 20th century and was initially created for product manufacturing. Over time, it was adopted by numerous agencies to gain a competitive advantage in their market. TQM is a way to harness an organization’s resources to improve effectiveness and efficiency with support, training, and guidance.